Finding Love
by Father Hulk
Summary: Bleu comforts Ryu as he struggles to deal with Katt and Nina's constant advances on him. Soon, that comforting will turn into something more... R/R Plz!


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Finding Love

by Father Maximillian J. Hulk

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hey everyone! Here's a story with a pairing that I'm quite fond of, and it's also one that I've never seen anybody else do. I hope you all enjoy it. Just a note: I do not own Breath of Fire 2 or any of its subsidiaries. Now, it's time to read… FINDING LOVE!!!

The city of Township! A proud and prospering city, it now lay quiet and sleepy in the pre-dawn air. And then the sun slowly peeked up over the tops of the trees, throwing bright orange light upon the high-class mansion situated at the north end of town. The rays of the sun streaked through Ryu's window and fell upon his face, waking him from his deep slumbers. He yawned as he sat up, and scratched his head, and then he slowly got up and left his room.

He was greeted not two steps into the hallway by a very much awake and apparently hyper Woren warrior, who pounced on him and tackled him to the ground.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" she cooed. "Sleep well?"

"Don't call me that…" he muttered, pushing her off.

"Ohh, you know you like it!"

"Then I don't know myself very well." he grumbled, trudging downstairs. The savory smell of bacon and eggs drifted up to meet him, and he followed his nose down to the kitchen, where he found Nina, hustling and bustling about in her deep blue nightgown.

"Good morning, Ryu!" she said with a sweet smile. "I cooked you breakfast."

Ryu rubbed the back of his neck. "Gee… thanks."

"Come, come… sit down, before it gets cold."

Ryu, out of hunger, sat down and began eating. The eggs were quite good, actually, as well as the bacon.

One by one, the rest of the group made their way downstairs.

"I am surprised," Jean said. "For a moment, it smelled like Master Chef's cooking, but Oui! I am surprised! Mistress Nina's cooking is superb as well!"

"Hey Boss, have you seen Spar?" Sten asked.

Rand pointed outside. "He's standing there, in the sunlight."

"He's not going to have breakfast?"

"He is."

"Ohhhhh…"

Katt plopped herself down at the table next to Ryu. "I'm starving. I'm soooo hungry…" As she said this last part, she grinned mischievously at Ryu and winked. Ryu sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You know, Katt, I'm not sure Ryu appreciates you hitting on him." Bleu said matter-of-factly from the hallway.

"Oh, be quiet old lady. Ryu loves it. Right, Ryu?" She stroked his leg.

"Oh yes," Ryu said sarcastically. "I love it."

Bleu crossed her arms. "In my day, we had treatments for girls like you."

"Well, thank God we're not in your day!" Nina jeered.

Bleu stepped forward. "Call me old again!"

"Old bag!" Katt cackled.

Bleu removed her wand and aimed it at Katt. Ryu stood and got between the two of them.

"Enough of this. You're all being immature. Now cut it out."

That was the end of that.

Ryu was watching TV in the living room that night, enjoying the peace and quiet. Suddenly, a voice asked, "Can I watch with you?" It was Katt.

"Sure, I guess." he answered. She sat down next to him.

Ryu wasn't an idiot. He knew right off the bat that Katt was going to pay zero attention to the movie. He kept quiet, hoping that she wouldn't "try anything" and that he could watch the movie and actually enjoy it.

He was getting a bit irritated at Katt's constant flirting, as well as Nina's subtle yet obvious coming on to him. He knew they thought he had to choose one of them, but the fact was, he didn't want either of them. He was looking to meet a sweet, quiet girl that he could hold and love and care about. The only reason Katt and Nina wanted him was because they thought he was a "knock out." (Katt had told him so once.) They didn't care about his feelings, or about being together. And that's not the kind of relationship Ryu wanted. He wanted a relationship based on love, not lust. He was sure he could meet a girl somewhere like that, but with the group traveling so much, it was difficult. But there was only one other girl with them… and that was…

His deep thought was interrupted by a furry arm going around his shoulder.

"This is soooo romantic!" Katt swooned.

Ryu snorted. "It's _Star Wars,_ Katt."

"I know! But look at Han Solo and Princess Leia!"

"Katt, they're arguing with each other."

"I know… and you know I like fighting…" She brought her face closer and closer to his. "Fighting really turns me on…" She went to kiss him. Ryu placed his hand over her face and pushed her backwards, and she fell off the couch onto her back.

"Watch the damn movie yourself now!" he roared. He stormed off, leaving Katt behind only with her intent to get at him renewed.

Ryu marched upstairs to the study to find a book to read, and who should be sitting there waiting for him, but Nina herself!

"Go away!"

She looked up from her book. "Huh?"

"Get out!"

"Excuse me, but I'm reading. If you care to join me…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ryu let forth a scream so piercing that Nina fled from the room instantly. Exhausted, Ryu collapsed on the easy chair.

Ryu looked up as he heard a gentle slithering sound from the hallway, and then Bleu peeked her head in the door. "Is everything okay? I heard a scream…"

Ryu sighed. "Everything's fine. I just lost my cool. I'm fine though."

"What happened?"

"It's nothing."

She came a bit further into the room. "Stress isn't good for the body in the long term. It helps to talk about it." She sat down next to him. "Now tell me what's wrong."

Ryu looked into Bleu's eyes and saw that she could be trusted. "Well, it's those annoying girls… they won't let up! They keep hitting on me, and trying to get close to me, and to kiss me, and I don't want it! I don't love either of them! I don't _like_ either of them! I want them to just leave me alone! I want them to disappear!"

"Relax, relax," she soothed in a soft voice. Ryu realize that he hadn't taken a breath since he began speaking, and he struggled to catch his aforementioned breath.

"It can be difficult to coexist with someone who doesn't understand your feelings," Bleu said.

"Tell me about it. They are _nothing_ like the type of girl I want."

"So what type of girl do you want?"

Ryu sighed. "Someone calm, beautiful, smart… someone who I can talk to about my problems… someone who I can have a strong and solid relationship with. There has to be love, caring, trust… and…" Ryu's voice trailed off as he seemed to zone out. Bleu gently took his hand to bring him back to earth. The contact made Ryu jump.

"I'm sorry," she said, taking her hand away. She returned to the issue at hand. "It sounds like you're looking for the right type of person."

"Yeah, but what can I do to get the message through to _those_ two?"

"I would tell them that you aren't interested, and that you'll never be interested, and that…" she smiled softly, "that maybe there's someone else out there for you."

Bleu's eyes had met his when she said this.

Ryu smiled. "Thanks, Bleu. That really helped." He squeezed her hand gently, and then got up. "I'm going to try to get some sleep. Thanks again."

"I do what I can…" she whispered after him.

The next day happened to be a very special day for Ryu. It was his birthday! He was 19 today, and he wasn't sure if the rest of the group knew or not.

Suddenly, there was a furious pounding on his bedroom door, and then Sten rushed into the room. "Boss! Boss! Come quick!"

"What is it?" Ryu asked, alarmed.

"There's a monster in the kitchen! A monster!"

"Crap…" Ryu grabbed his sword and charged downstairs. He stopped short, however, when he saw what lay before him. 

"Wait, did I say monster? I meant birthday party." Sten chuckled.

"SURPRISE!!!" Everyone cried. There were balloons and a big cake and everyone had put a present on the table.

"Wow… you did all this for me?" Ryu asked, embarrassed a bit. "Thank you. Thank you all!"

And so it was that they had a merry party, with much laughing and celebrating. We join our friend Ryu shortly after the cake is finished.

"So open your presents!" Rand urged him. "We didn't buy them just to sit there."

Ryu laughed. "Okay, okay."

Bow had gotten him a new sheath for his sword. Rand got him a book about the history of the Dragon Clan. Sten got him a gift certificate to the item store in Guntz. Jean had gotten him a beginners cookbook. Spar got him a bonsai tree. 

"It's time for my gift!" Katt declared.

"And mine!" said Nina.

"I go first!" Katt said. She walked slowly up to Ryu. "Happy birthday, Ryu." she kissed him firmly on the lips.

"Aaagh! Enough! ENOUGH!" He stood up and pushed her off him hard. "I've had enough of you two! I can't stand it anymore! I DON'T LOVE YOU! Either of you! I don't like you, I don't love you! And I don't want to have anything to do with either of you! Get the f*ckin picture already! Get out of my life!" He kicked the door open and stormed outside, slamming it behind him.

Everyone was deathly silent. Then Nina shoved Katt and said, "You stole my gift!"

Bleu rubbed her chin. _I'd better go check on him._

Ryu sat on a log deep in the forest, muttering to himself and pulling up grass.

"Stupid bitches… I can't stand them… I wish they'd drop dead…"

"Now, I'm sure you don't wish that," said a comforting voice.

Ryu looked up. Bleu had joined him on the log. "Boy am I glad to see you," he said. "You seem to be the only one that I can talk to my problems about. Everyone else is just like… duuuuhh… you know?"

She smiled. "I know. I guess you just overflowed back there, huh?"

"Yeah. I feel kinda bad now, but I seriously don't want to see either of those two anymore."

She took his hand. "You're just saying that because you're upset. You'll feel better in a little while."

There was a silence, and then Ryu asked Bleu a rather unusual question. "What would you do if a guy was hitting on you?"

Bleu seemed confused. "Well, I don't know… nobody's ever hit on me before."

"Never?"

"Nope. So I don't really know what it's like."

"Well let's suppose that one day, I start hitting on you. What would you do?"

Bleu gazed up into his eyes. "Well, if you, Ryu Bateson, had hit on me… and asked me to go out with you…" Bleu was unconsciously moving her hand from Ryu's hand up to his shoulder. He wasn't surprised, but he instead closed his eyes at her touch. "…if you asked me to go out with you… you'd be the first guy to ever do so, and I never heard of the jackpot coming on the first try, but…" she touched his chin, and he opened his eyes and looked deep into hers. "…I'd totally go for it."

"You… you're serious?" he asked, now seeming slightly confused by this sudden revelation.

"You can trust me, Ryu." she said. "You said you wanted a girl that you could trust, right?"

"Yes. Yes I did." He smiled.

She passed him a small package. "This is my birthday present to you. It's the heartmirror. Gaze into it, and it reflects your heart's deepest desire."

Ryu removed the small, heart-shapped mirror from the box and stared deep into it. His eyes widened at what he saw. 

"What do you see?" she asked softly.

"I see… myself… with you! We… have our arms around each other… is this… what I want?"

"It's what your heart wants," she told him, moving closer.

"Bleu… I…" he couldn't finish. She kissed him, very softly. "I think I love you…"

She ran her soft hand across the back of his neck. "I see the same thing you do when I gaze into the heartmirror."

They kissed again, a very slow kiss, but Ryu felt like he was in heaven as he felt Bleu's lips upon his own. The kiss grew more romantic, more deep, and when they parted, Bleu seemed to be glowing with a fire that not even the flames in the pits of Infinity could match.

"I love you." they said in unison.

The next morning, Nina and Katt were downstairs early, determined to get back on Ryu's good side. However, nothing could match their shock when they saw him and Bleu, coming downstairs together, arms entwined. 

Ryu smiled at their horrified expression. Inwardly, he was laughing at what they probably thought they did. In reality, on their first night together, all they had done was held each other close and talked about life and love, and their journey that lay before them. They had kissed for a while too, but all they wanted was to be close to each other. It was about the love, not the lust.

"You wanna mess with them?" Ryu whispered to Bleu.

"How?"

"Just play along." He began speaking to her in a louder tone. "So… was it good for you last night?"

She laughed, then said, "Ohhh yes! You were terrific!"

"Dear God…" Katt wailed. She and Nina fled from the room. Ryu and Bleu cracked up, and kissed each other.

"I love you," he said.

"Mmm, likewise." They kissed again.

EPILOGUE

Nina and Katt were walking to the church, weeping all the way.

"He doesn't love us!" Nina wailed. "It's over! Finis!"

"It's not fair." Katt pouted. "Just not fair. Well, let's consult the church about it. Maybe they can help."

They walked into the divine atmosphere of the St. Eva Church and approached the altar. 

Ray, the hi priest, looked up. "Can I help you with something?"

Katt and Nina froze on the spot when they saw him. Tall, handsome, long blonde hair falling over one eye, smooth voice… They looked at each other and grinned.

"Yes, you can help us with something," Nina said as they approached him. "We need your help badly!"

Katt pounced.

THE END!

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Finding Love has been written by Father M.J. Hulk

A production of PDG Network in association with the St. Eva Church.

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BENEDICTION: So, how did it go, my friends? I think it's a job well done. But it's not my opinion that counts, it is yours! So send me a few reviews, plz? I'd appreciate your feedback! And until next time, I bid you adieu. 


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